Tragus Group, the owner of Strada, Bella Italia and Café Rouge, is encouraging users to share their own restaurant experiences through user-generated photos and videos on social media platforms, which can then be exchanged for promotional vouchers, as it looks to drive footfall into its restaurants.

The Holding company is to build preference for each of its brands on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter over the next 12 months by offering users promotional vouchers for the content they develop.

According to the company the objective of the strategy is to convert its online community into regular restaurant customers with an incentive scheme, “proving that integration is key to the overall marketing mix.”

Jemima Bird, marketing director at Tragus Group, says: “We are very focused on generating real value from social media through more proactive engagement with our customers to help ensure that they become even more loyal to our brands.”

Italian restaurant chain, Bella Italia, launched a Facebook’ app in October, which users could then share their personalised pizzas on the social network and receive a promotional voucher. The promotion ended in November and over 1,800 vouchers were downloaded during this time. The business will be focusing in key dates such Valentines, Mothers Day and the Olympics, with each brand having their own individual themed campaigns.

The strategy is being developed by search and social agency, 4Ps Marketing, in partnership with Tragus Group’s internal team.

According to Luke Knight, social media account manager at 4Ps Marketing, the social media strategy has been being adjusted for each brand accordingly with their own online communities, to differentiate it from other voucher schemes.

“One of Café Rouge’s objectives is to move away from being perceived as a Café and so a lot of the work we’ve done has been geared towards accentuating the wine aspect of the brand, so that it’s top of mind for consumers,” says Knight. “We’re actually working with Bella Italia on a potential future concept that lets someone bring their own personalised pizza to a restaurant and get it made.”

The company is also a partner for O2’s location based service Priority Moments, but has no plans to introduce location-based features into its branded apps.

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